Ate Yani

Time flies by without us noticing it. I still remember when your little boy was still that, little. You used to tell me wonderful things about him, how cute he is, how clever he is, how easily could he adapt to his environment. Now, you tell me things different from what you used to tell me. It is an indication that things changed. And really things changed, may it be for better or for worse.

We used to hang around town together. We enjoyed just roaming around for no purpose at all. We just found joy in the silence of the night, and our voices and laughters would be the only sounds the night would hear. Friends would see us, dogs would bark at us, the night would be deep in slumber, yet we were still together. It seems the times would not end. And the next day, we still would be together. How funny those times were?

Remember how happily we ate bitukang manok in that nook of the street, siomai, flying saucer in Everybody's Place, halo halo. Yeah, Everybody's Place...good memories we had there. Remember the bottles of beer in halamanan? I am not sure of the place now, but I'm sure you remember it. Oh, that night, that one lonely night.

Remember how we shared each other's joys and sadness, triumphs and frustrations, expectations and disappointments. There were so much shared between us. Your family becomes mine. Your siblings consider me as one among you. I am treated like a family. What better thing could be better than that?

You never knew how much learning I had with those things you told me. When we discussed about life's perspectives, dispositions and views. It was then that I became aware...aware that I need to have them in my life. Then that I began looking at how my life has been. I started creating my philosophy, my paradigm. You may never know it but each time I heard that word I remember you. It was you who made me recognize its significance.

You have made me risen up to what I could be. You were there when friends were hard to find. You were there when things did not work out so well for me. You were there just for any reason at all. Friendship matters more than any reason.

Happy birthday!

I may not be with you on 10 August but my prayers and greetings go as the wind blows to your directions. May the best that life brings be with you.

Your son is now a young lad. Be prepared. Be very prepared with what life will bring you. Enjoy the day!